Residents appear understanding of stormwater utility

By Tyler Marr

March 7, 2017 2:51 PM

Councillor Ken Baker is seen speaking to those in attendance during the Your Voice night held Thursday to convey the what’s and why’s of the city’s proposed stormwater utility. Tyler Marr/Meridian Booster

Understanding of the circumstances and a willingness to help out appeared to be the theme at the Your Voice event hosted by the City of Lloydminster Thursday.

The night was held in an effort to convey the what’s and why’s of the city’s proposed stormwater utility bylaw that was brought forward during last Monday’s council meeting, which was introduced to help garner funds for desperately-needed repairs to the city’s stormwater system.

“I think that people are curious about what we are trying to accomplish,” Alan Cayford, director of public works said while speaking with media.

“I think that there is no one that lives in this city or works with the city that doesn’t believe we need to do something to stop flooding events from extreme weather conditions.”

The heart of the issue is the Neale Edmunds Complex, a 30-year-old facility, which has never been updated alongside aging stormwater pipes where more than 33 per cent is over 38 years old.

Currently, the city does not have reserve funds set aside for the infrastructure upgrades that include an improvement to the Neale complex estimated at $1.2-million, and overall improvements to the existing stormwater system estimated at more than $57-million.

To address this issue, council and administration have proposed establishing an equitable utility fee to be charged to all properties, which benefit from the system, to help offset pressure on tax dollars for capital expenses.

The fee, which will be based on lot size, will vary on a sliding scale between $13 and $480 per month, with around 99.4 per cent of residential and 94 per cent of total properties falling under the minimum $13 per-month pricing system.

Undeveloped or vacant properties, as they contribute less to the stormwater system, will be charged a factor of 0.25 of the applicable rate.

Residential properties whose lot sizes are over 30,000 square metres, such as trailer courts, will divide the $480 per-month fee across each dwelling.

Of this fee collected — based on the minimum $13 per month charge — around $0.92 will be allocated to capital reserves, $2.92 to maintenance and $9.16 towards depreciation.

Mayor Gerald Aalbers echoed a number of these concerns while saying, “If your car breaks down you have to fix it, and in our case, the stormwater system is broke and we do need to do some fixing.

“We need to build a little bit of a reserve so that we don’t have to come back every time we are looking for that money.”

With a target set to roll the program out around April 27, Cayford held hopes to get at least one structure at the Neale complex repaired this year.

“I think that we will generate enough money over the course of the first two years that we should be able to do hopefully all five structures out there within the first couple of years,” Cayford added.

When asked on what challenges have presented themselves in selling the levy to residents, the mayor indicated it “hasn’t been too bad” thus far, but when “it shows up on the utility bill it might be a little different.”

“Most people understand,” he said. “People do ask, ‘where does my money go’ and you can actually see it. If you go out to the complex before the work and after the work’s done, you will actually see money spent right in the ground.”

For Ben Harrison, a resident in attendance, he was behind the idea of setting up a reserve for future use, even if it meant paying a little extra.

“It is a good idea to get ahead and save some money,” Harrison said.
“I think it is really important that if you live or work or go to school or whatever the purpose of a building in the city is, there should be a contribution towards costs.”

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